The strike will break out on Thursday, April 18, at 07.00 if no solution is reached before then. The strike includes more than 5,000 members and the notification in its entirety affects large parts of the country.
The professional groups affected are above all kitchen and meal staff, janitors, janitors, bathhouse staff, sterile technicians, laundry staff and transporters.
Even individual assistant nurses in the regions will be taken out on strike if the conflict breaks out.
– We have issued a rather massive notice which could have major consequences if it is the case that it needs to come into effect on April 18, says Kommunal’s chairman Malin Ragnegård.
For several months, unions and employers have been negotiating a new agreement for around 540,000 employees in municipalities and regions and municipal companies with Sobona agreements.
Municipal says no to two things
It was last Friday that Kommunal broke off the negotiations with Sweden’s Municipalities and Regions, SKR and Sobona on a new agreement after Kommunal said no to the final offer. And now the union is putting in a strike notice.
Above all, there are two things that SKR has not been able to present any solution to, which means that Kommunal feels compelled to resort to the strike weapon. One concerns a final date for when wages must be paid and the other is the question of the 24-hour rest period. There, SKR has come up with proposals that Kommunal perceives as deteriorations.
Is your workplace affected by Kommunal’s strike?
Agreement
– There it is a very locked situation and we think that SKR has blinders and does not want to look for long-term solutions, says Malin Ragnegård.
If it is now about the 24-hour rest a lot, can firefighters go on strike?
– In this notification, no firefighters are selected. It’s not just about firefighters, but this is an overall solution and it applies to both LSS operations and the rescue service. And the salary part affects all members of Kommunal.
Malin Ragnegård. Photo: Fredrik Sandin Carlson
Also blockades in the notification
In addition to the strike, Kommunal’s conflict warning also includes a blockade of new hires, as well as a blockade of extra and overtime in 27 municipalities, which also come into force on April 18 at 07:00. This includes large municipalities such as Malmö, Gävle, Sundsvall and Växjö. In some municipalities only in elderly care.
This means that employers cannot hire new people from that date and that full-time employees covered by the notification cannot work overtime and that part-time employees cannot work overtime.
Here are the municipalities that Kommunal blockades
Agreement
Mediators will be called in shortly to resolve the conflict if possible. If they do not succeed in that before April 18, the strike can either be postponed, if a solution is close, or come into force.
SKR: Sorry to report
The last time Kommunal saw itself forced into conflict in municipalities and regions was in 2003. At that time, among others, cleaning workers, nannies and janitors went on strike. The conflict lasted five weeks. Also in 2013, Kommunal put out a strike notice, but then a solution was reached before the conflict broke out.
SKR signs its website that they have received Kommunal’s notice.
“It is regrettable that Kommunal chooses to announce industrial action and that welfare’s everyday life now risks being negatively affected. We are ready to find constructive solutions at the negotiating table,” writes Jeanette Hedberg, head of negotiations, SKR.
